The present invention relates to shelters and more particularly to shelters which are portable, easily assembled and are collapsible for ease of storage.
A portable protective shelter can provide welcome relief for the person who enjoys spending time outdoors such as at the beach, lake or in the backyard, but prefers to do so without sitting in the hot sun. However, the average outdoor-oriented person does not want a portable shelter which is heavy and clumsy to carry or is complicated to assemble. A portable shelter should not unduly restrict the user's movement and vision when the user is inside the shelter.
Variour prior art portable shelters provide relief to users from the sun and the earth's elements. For example, Fulk U.S. Pat. No. 2,934,076 shows a beach cabana which is designed to be a portable, lightweight shelter for use on the beach. The Fulk patent teaches a beach cabana having three walls and a roof which can be easily folded when ready to leave the beach. This cabana generally comprises a rectangular fabric covering which is rigidly supported by three horizontal rods or tubes which are in turn held in place by a collapsible frame. The frame structure is further supported by several guy wires which are attached to steel spikes pounded into the ground.
The Moss U.S. Pat. No. 3,394,720, also shows a portable canopy or shelter which can be readily used for outdoor purposes. Moss teaches a shelter which relies upon a single resilient pole to support a single sheet of flexible material which forms the shelter. The resilient pole is received within a tunnel or sleeve which is formed in the sheet of material and extends along the peak of the shelter. The shelter further includes a base socket for receiving one end of the resilient pole with two rigid arms radiating from the socket along the ground. The shelter is formed by flexing the pole and connecting the corners of the sheet to the outer ends of the rigid arms.
The Beaudry U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,650 discloses a portable shelter including a plurality of bows attached at each end to a pair of hubs. Side braces interconnect the bows in their extended positions and are pinned to them. One edge of the shelter rests on the ground and the shelter is held in place by an anchor buried in the ground.
Unfortunately, some of the problems associated with the shelters to which the present invention relates, has been in the assembly and disassembly of the device. While some prior art shelters are readily collapsible, many rely upon guy wires for support or to anchor the structure, which not only requires tie down wires, but may also require use of different tools to secure stakes in the ground or to dig holes in the ground.